Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine

If 'Dear Zachary' is a man's way of dealing with the murder of his best friend, then this would work as the female equivalent. Josue spends the most of the running time remembering Matt through recollections of friends and family. There is a lot of crying faces and many a melancholic piano queue, but when time comes to deal with the hate crime itself, that strategy is largely successful, and the impact feels powerful because of how much this guy is missed.

How many more of these kind of stories are necessary for society to wake up and change?

Turns out there is a lot more to this story than what is presented here (but isn't that always the way with documentaries?). It seems to be more a memorial and tribute to a much loved individual who died a horrific and undeserving death, but I plan to read Stephen Jimemez's 'The Book of Matt' for the other side of the story. At any event, despite the tragedy, the USA passed hate crime legislation as a direct result of this crime so that is a positive thing. RIP Matt.